Break Away
by Valentine'sNinja
Summary: AU. She had been searching for her true purpose in life for a long time, and she found it after meeting a man who lived in Seventh Heaven. Rating for minor violence, and some language. Light CloudTifa romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Break Away, part 1/3

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Mild Violence, some language, and be aware that some characters have been inverted in their roles. Also, there's only a touch of romance, so don't kill me!

**Word count:**6000+(despite what ffnet says, it's less than 7000)

**Prompt:**Tifa: AU – _Tifa is the Soldier First Class and Cloud owns the Seventh Heaven_

**Summary:** She had been searching for her true purpose in life for a long time, and she found it after meeting a man who lived in Seventh Heaven.

**A/N: **This story was written for the "Are You Game," prompt challenge on IJ, and it took on a life of its own. The story is complete, so expect an update tomorrow, or the day after. I really hope this is to everyone's liking and that it's not too incomplete or choppy. Also, it wasn't beta-read, so I'm really sorry for the errors that I know snuck away from me. Just consider this fic Tifa's very own "Crisis Core." Enjoy!

……………

Keeping her breathing even, ears sharp on any sound out of the ordinary, she crept silently through metal halls. The displacement of air to her left alerted her of something moving with amazing speed and she dove and rolled out of the way of a massive tail. In less than a second, she had drawn her sword and was blocking a swipe of claws from a huge monster.

Normally, she would've dispatched creature that looked like some sort of mutated behemoth. Its eyes glowed unnaturally and it's the visible skin had a sick gooey substance covering it. The thing had apparently escaped from one of the underground labs, and she had been sent out to dispatch it. Pushing the questions of what exactly type of experiments ShinRa was conducting in secrecy, she rushed the monster, ducking under it and slicing deep into its belly with her sword, using all the arm strength she could muster. The cold, blue-gray blade in her hand came away stained with blood nearly black in color, and she scowled when she realized that it would take some doing to get it clean once more.

The creature shrieked in agony and turned in her direction, rushing her and making her run towards the wall a few feet away. There she used the momentum to race up the wall, flip over the thing's head and land on its back. Activating the fire materia located on her gauntlet, she jumped off the massive, reddish back as it roared in anger and pain.

She was overconfident that her attack would distract it, but the monster charged at her, catching her around the middle with its head and slamming her right into the wall she had been standing in front of. The impact forced the air out of her and the coppery taste of blood rose from somewhere inside, signaling that she had suffered an internal injury, and it would be a miracle if her ribs hadn't been shattered with that one hit. Despite her strength and speed, she wasn't invincible, but it had been a while since she had been defeated in a battle. She wouldn't throw in the towel now.

Her vision swam for a second, but she managed to raise her sword and ram it into the monster's left eye, causing a spray of blood to hit her as it finally pulled back and released a painfully shrill scream of pain. She took a moment to catch her breath, but didn't get the chance to activate the cure materia. Not while the thing could still swipe at her with its claws. Her run was a bit slower than she anticipated, but she put her muscles into slashing at the massive throat in a move that made her look like a graceful dancer. More earsplitting noise and spray of blood followed, and Tifa fell to her knees, hoping that it was close to dying before she lost her strength and adrenaline, or lost consciousness.

This time, when the sweep of tail came, she didn't have time to block or roll out of the way. The force of the hit knocked the bit of breath she had managed to regain and sent her flying into the air with more force than she could've thought possible. She braced for the feel of the metal ground meeting her back and head, but it came worse than she had anticipated. Her eyes flew wide as she was sent right through the ground and down, meeting only air.

She was falling quickly and forcefully, the plate further and further away until she broke through what felt like wood and landed with a forceful, "oomph," over soft earth. She got in one good gasp of breath, and before she could wonder what had broken her fall, darkness began to encroach her eyesight.

The last thing she saw was worried blue eyes staring down at her before she was out cold.

………

It wasn't every day that he decided to sit around and do nothing. The plants had been watered, fed, and trimmed. He had taken his quota back to the shop and had come back just to lay in the warm rays of the sun coming through the few missing wooden panels of the church's ceiling. If he hadn't had his reflexes sharp from training with his best friend, the body falling through the ceiling would've landed right on him.

He'd jumped out of the way in time to see her land over his precious flowers—his because no one knew about them or had claimed them—with the wind knocked out of her. She was wearing a SOLDIER First Class uniform and was bruised and bloodied from either the fall or a previous fight. A distance away, a wicked, sharp looking sword landed on the flowers with a sharp 'snick.'

He stepped towards her quickly to see if she hadn't been killed in the fall only to see her eyes slip closed as he leaned over her. Feeling carefully for her pulse, he gave a shaky sigh when he found it. He knew it would take more than a fall to kill a SOLDIER, but she didn't look so well at that moment; the blood streaming from the corner of her lips made that obvious. Gauging her injuries, he made an exasperated noise when he turned her head and found that the greens underneath were stained red. He needed to help her quickly or SOLDIER or not she would bleed to death.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed the number that always seemed to get him out of trouble.

………

"Cloud?"

"Yes, Marlene?"

"Can you help me fix my braid? I can't do it by myself." There was silence, and Marlene looked up from the hair her tiny hands were battling with to her current caretaker. "Cloud?"

"I don't think I can help you with that," he said uncomfortably. "I don't really know about braids, Marlene."

The little girl pouted at him and Cloud sighed, pulling her up onto the bar counter. "Promise not to complain if it comes out wrong?"

"Promise," Marlene said with a bright smile. She waited patiently as the blond man who was watching over her for the day fumbled with her hair, making her wince as he clumsily pulled some of the strands sharply. "Maybe I should wait for papa Barret to come home," she said, pushing Cloud's hands away from her head.

Her gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Marlene." He helped her off the counter and allowed her to run off to play with her dolls in her room. Cloud took a look around his bar and let out a small sigh. It wasn't much, as with every other thing down in the slums, but he was doing something he had always wanted to do. He offered people a respite from their troubles, and he could handle any of the trouble makers that showed up at least once or twice a night. Though of a darker atmosphere, the bar was clean, spacious, and with a touch of personality. He'd hung up pictures of his old town of Nibelheim, and a few others of nature he had managed to snap on his trip to Midgar nearly two years ago.

At the short age of twenty-two, he was alone, but at least making a living by himself and managing to hang on. Walking around the bar counter to make sure that he had stocked up for later that night, he heard the familiar jingle that signaled that it was Zack calling. He answered on the repeat of the song and held the phone up to his ear with a sigh.

"_Cloud, I need some help."_

The blond frowned. Now _that_ was a new way Zack started a conversation. "With what?"

"_I need to hide a girl at your place."_

"I think your mom would understand if you brought her home, Zack. She should know by now that you're a big boy who likes girls."

"_Ha, ha, not funny," came the exasperated reply. "She's hurt, and I need to hide her somewhere that won't compromise my family."_

"So it's better for _me_ to get screwed over? I don't think so. I like my bar and I want to keep it in one piece. Besides, Marlene is here and Barret will attempt to dismember me if I put her in any kind of danger," Cloud replied, wiping the dust that had gathered overnight on the shelves where he kept the glasses and new bottles of beer.

"_She's SOLDIER, but I don't know if someone will come for her. We need to heal her because I think she's really hurt. Please Cloud? We'll get her out as soon as she's up on her feet."_

Cloud sighed heavily and realized that he really couldn't say no to his best friend, especially when he was getting into trouble. "Fine, bring her over. Just make sure no one is following you."

"_Thanks man. I owe you one."_

He already owed him plenty, but Cloud knew that he would never ask for those favors in return. He just hoped that this SOLDIER didn't bring trouble with her.

…

The feel of cool fingers sliding over her cheek alerted Tifa to the fact that she was conscious and that some stranger was touching her. Grabbing the fingers as she sat up with dizzying speed, her eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was blue, a type of blue to put a ice materia to shame. The next thing she noticed was that she was cutting off the blood circulating his fingers, but that the face in front of her was gazing at her coolly, unbothered by the obvious pain.

"Who are you?" Tifa asked, letting go enough for her grip to not be excruciating.

"I'm the person who healed you," he replied, calm and collected.

"I didn't need healing," she replied, easing towards the foot of the bed after finally letting him go. "Where is my sword?"

"Downstairs, in the kitchen. My friend Zack brought you here because you were bleeding from a head wound. You fell through the roof of the church he likes to hang out in."

At the mention of falling through a roof, the rhythmic throbbing started up in her head, but when she felt for the wound, she found that it was gone. "Thanks," she muttered, getting to her feet. She eyed the man who had been kneeling at the side of the bed and slowly took him in as he stood to his full height.

He wasn't much taller than she was, but he was built like an agile fighter. She'd seen plenty men with his sinewy build, and that signified that he either trained in martial arts, or that he handled a sword. Maybe both. Aside from the blue eyes that had first struck her, his blond hair seemed to be spun from sunlight and his skin from the moonlight.

His gaze on her was faintly familiar, and there were no traces of the fear or awe that she normally encountered when people realized that she was a SOLDIER First Class _and _a woman. "If you would please show me to my sword, I can get out of your hair," she said quietly.

Cloud blinked at her and then hesitantly nodded, motioning towards the door. She looked reluctant to walk with him at her back, but he stepped to her side to at least reduce some of her unease.

Tifa took in her surroundings carefully, memorizing each detail as they walked down some stairs and into an area that was obviously a bar. The chairs were still up on the tables, but everything was spotless. It didn't look like much—or at least like the bars that other SOLDIERs frequented—but it was well taken care of. She followed the blond into the kitchen and watched him as he approached a gap between the refrigerator and the counter. He brought out her sword with an ease that confirmed Tifa's suspicion regarding his training.

"That's… uh, a nice sword," said Cloud uncomfortably. "What were you doing? You had other injuries that had nothing to do with the fall."

Tifa looked at him closely. "That's confidential, um…"

Blue eyes narrowed a fraction. "Cloud."

"Cloud, thank you for bothering to take me in and healing me. I honestly would've been fine," she said, uncomfortable under his penetrating stare. It was like—maybe he somehow knew her, but could it be that he… Tifa shook her head. "I need to head back," she said, accepting her sword and snapping it back into the sword harness on her back.

"Actually, since my friend brought you in, maybe you'd like to wait and thank him? I know he'll be worried," Cloud said, watching her pause by the back door.

Tifa let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Maybe I'll return another night. What drink would you recommend?"

Cloud smirked faintly. "A glass of Corel Sangria. It's a creation of mine."

The brunette nodded and offered him a small smile. "I will keep that in mind," she said before she was out the door.

Cloud let out a long sigh and leaned back against the kitchen counter, rubbing a hand over his face in confusion. That had been Tifa, even if she hadn't offered her name and had pretended not to know him. But… why had she? When Zack had brought her in, something inside of Cloud had panicked, instantly recognizing her, but upon her opening her eyes—the same wine hue, with the exception that now they glowed—there had been no recognition in them. Nothing but confusion and suspicion had been in her gaze.

"I'm ba-ack!" came Zack's voice from the bar.

Cloud stepped into the bar and shook his head when Zack began to question him about the girl. "She's gone."

"What?! Did you scare her away so quickly?" asked his friend, his own blue eyes curious.

The blond shook his head. "She said something about returning. I assume she meant back to ShinRa." He almost broke into snickers at the disappointed look on Zack's face. "Was it love at first sight for you?"

His friend glared. "I just really wanted to meet her while she was conscious. She seemed pretty cute while she wasn't."

Something in Cloud's eyes changed, and to hide it, he turned back to what he had been attempting to do before Zack had called and interrupted him. "You didn't miss much," he said flatly, hating himself for saying such a thing, but not truly knowing why he said it. "Well, she said that she'd see about coming back during bar hours."

"Well then… I'll just have to help around here more often, won't I?" Zack asked cheerily.

"Please don't. I can hardly take your presence enough as it is," Cloud said, grinning when the other man sputtered.

"That's just mean. Well, at least it won't be on our heads that we didn't help someone, right? I know you didn't want me to bring her here, but you're a good guy, Cloud. I know you would've helped her without hesitation if you would've seen her fall."

"Don't worry, Zack. One person may not make an impact in the world, but we can teach others to be kind and it'll be a start, won't it?" Cloud asked quietly.

Zack grinned and nodded. "How about I help you in the kitchen?"

"The last time you helped, everyone ended up with food poisoning. Just… hang out here and make sure that my bar is stocked for the night shift," Cloud said, moving into the kitchen to start on dinner.

Zack shrugged to himself. He'd get his chance to glimpse at the SOLDIER some day. He was sure.

………

Settling her sword over the table provided to her in her small, personal room, Tifa took a look around. In a matter of days, she would leave the issued Second Class room and would be able to move into a more spacious place, given only to First Class. There wasn't much in the room, except for a photo or two, a cook book, and a few other personal belongings, but she got the feeling that she would be required to do a lot more with her new living space.

Her face twisted into a frown as she began to remove her sword, the harness, and her belt. the thing she had fought before falling through the plate had not been a normal monster, she knew that much. But it also was painfully obvious that ShinRa had had something to do with the creation of something that could've killed innocent civilians. She had dealt it a killing blow that had been confirmed by the reinforcements that had been sent in after her accident. There were many question running through her mind, but it wasn't her place to question what experiments ShinRa was running behind the public eye. SOLDIERs were just required to clean up the mess, she thought bitterly.

There was a knock and she paused before removing her boots. Stadning and opening the door, she rolled her eyes when she was greeted by a cheerful grin, and a scowl. The first came from a short woman in a black suit, the second, from a tall man with blood red eyes. "Get ready. Vince and I are taking you out for drinks."

"I'd rather not," Tifa said, smiling and shaking her head.

"Why not? We have to celebrate your promotion and we know that your other SOLDIER friends are off on missions and can't celebrate with you right now."

Tifa turned to Vincent. "And you would rather spend your time babysitting Yuffie so that she doesn't lose consciousness in an alley somewhere?"

"Do I have much of a choice?" Vincent countered in annoyance.

"I guess you don't," Tifa said with a smirk, pulling on the things she had removed and grabbing her sword. "Aerith arrived an hour ago. We'll have to stop and check if she wants to join us."

"Cool," said Yuffie. "Reno and Rude told us about this place under the plate that serves some good drinks and has really hot guys serving."

"Reno told you about the hot guys?" Tifa asked.

"No, I badgered Rude until he finally told me that _yes_there were hot guys there," Yuffie snickered, eyeing Vincent to see his reaction. He just looked bored and uninterested in what Yuffie was saying.

"Let's go," Tifa said in amusement, leading the way. She truly wasn't in the mood for a bar atmosphere, but she couldn't turn down her friends. Though not expected to socialize, Tifa was quite fond of a handful of Turks, and she had to admit that they did know how to have fun. Hopefully tonight wouldn't be any different.

……

It really hadn't been a surprise to Cloud to see that more than half of his clientele were females. He wasn't a stranger to his own good looks, but add Zack to the mix and business seemed to boom on certain nights. The jingling of the bell over the door alerted him to more customers coming in, but the sight that greeted him was unexpected. It was Tifa, accompanied by another SOLDIER, one even more dainty looking than her, and two Turks. A different set of Turks had arrived only ten minutes before and had commandeered one of the largest table in the bars. Cloud realized why they had done so now.

Zack sidled up next to him, drying his hands and looking at the group curiously. "Is that our SOLDIER?" he asked with a grin.

Cloud bristled at the _our_ part and nodded. "Handle the counter, while I get their orders," he said before approaching the table. The two that had saved the table already had beers in their hands, but the new group looked just about ready to order. "What can I get you?" he asked by greeting, offering his friendliest face.

"Wow, Rude, you weren't kidding," said the shortest of them all.

Tifa hid a grin and gave Cloud a nod. "I guess I'll try that Sangria," she said.

"Good choice," Cloud replied, looking at the two other females and the tall, bored looking male. "And for you?"

"I'll have what Tifa is having," said the woman with the green eyes.

"I want something hard," said Yuffie with a wink. "Anything with a kick… or a punch."

"Red wine," the man cut in.

"Don't you need to write that down, yo?" asked one of the men who had arrived first.

"I have a good memory," Cloud said, tapping his temple lightly.

His eyes darted to Tifa for a few seconds, and she was left with the feeling that she was supposed to understand what he meant. Shaking herself of uncertainties and questions, she joined the friendly chatter coming from her friends. "Doesn't anyone find it ironically funny that L.T. here has more Turk friends than SOLDIER friends?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "I never said anything about you being my friend, Reno," she said, joining the laughter of the others as Reno pouted.

"You know you love me, baby. You, Aerith, _and _Yuffie. Say… how about we discuss a foursome for my birthday?"

"How about you stop talking shit before I stick my shuriken up your ass?" Yuffie threatened, eyes blazing fire.

"If that's your idea of foreplay, then maybe I shouldn't include you in our group. I think Tifa and Aerith will be more than enough," said Reno, smirking.

Aerith wrinkled her nose delicately and shook her head. "I don't know where you've been, so I'll have to pass."

More snickers and some jokes were thrown around at Reno's expense before the drinks arrived. Before the night was over, Tifa had a nice buzz, courtesy of the drink Yuffie had shoved at her before taking her leave with Vincent, complaining and whining all the way. Tifa had a feeling that Yuffie would find a way to rope Vincent into staying the night at her place, and it was funny because neither imagined that their secret relationship was common news now, thanks to Reno.

While Aerith excused herself to use the restroom, and Reno went off for another beer, Tifa was left to sit with Rude, who generally didn't have much to say. He was tall, dark, and handsome, but with the addition of being a gentleman and a ruthless Turk all in the same package. "Are you happy with your promotion?" he asked Tifa after a few minutes of sitting quietly, enjoying a companionable silence.

Tifa nodded and smiled. "It's nice, but it brings ten times more responsibility. More dangerous missions on your own too," she said, reminded of her encounter with the monster earlier in the morning. "Rude, what do you know about the monster I was sent after today?"

"What do you mean?" Rude asked nonchalantly.

"It wasn't a normal monster. How the hell did it get out?" she asked him in a whisper.

"Those are things I am not allowed to talk about," Rude said stiffly.

Tifa just rolled her eyes and stood from the table, leaving him alone before making her way to the bar; she hadn't missed the wince Rude had given her at the glare she had leveled him with. When she got to the bar counter, she was approached by a tall, handsome man. He was faintly familiar too and it took her a moment to see why. "You're Zack?"

"The one and only. How's your head?" he asked cheerfully.

Tifa tilted her head to the side. "I honestly haven't been sane in years," she said, shrugging.

Zack chuckled and poured her a shot of a clear liquid. "That's on me," he said with a wink.

"Thanks for saving me," Tifa said, and before he could reply, he excused himself to approach a customer down at the other end of the bar. Downing the shot without a problem, Tifa looked up just in time to see Cloud come down from the stairs, a faint smile on his face. Something about him was familiar to some part of her Tifa hadn't even remembered, but it was hard to place where she knew him from. "Do we know each other from somewhere?" she asked when Cloud approached her.

The blond man gave her a calculating look and shrugged. "I can't recall. Why? Does it feel like we should know each other?"

Tifa nodded. "I can't place why, or how, but I feel like I should remember your face."

Cloud seemed uncomfortable with her words and busied himself with rinsing the glasses that had begun to fill the sink. Tifa watched him silently—the sink was right across from her, and Cloud still faced her—and examined his face closely. He was handsome, with features only slightly on the delicate side, but with the flexing muscles of his arms, and what she could see of his chest, it was obvious that he was anything but feminine.

_Leaving? For Midgar?… When will you come back?_

The voice of a young boy echoed in her mind, but no image accompanied it. She couldn't be sure that the voice belonged to a younger Cloud, but something inside of her was telling her that yes, it was him. That he was part of that missing gap. She had learned to file away the vague things that echoed in her mind from time to time, and write them in a notebook to analyze them later. She stayed long until the last patron had closed, not missing the suggestive looks that both Aerith and Yuffie had been sending her, and decided to help out. She collected the empty beer bottles scattered over the tables and took them where Zack had instructed her.

"So, you have a boyfriend, Tifa? Any of those guys you were with here tonight?" Zack questioned, starting to wipe down the tables.

Tifa shook her head. "I think a lot of guys are intimidated by the fact that I can snap them in half if I get mad," she said in low voice, staring Zack right in the eyes.

He gave her a serious look before he broke into a grin. "That's really awesome. Have you ever tried to?"

She laughed and shook her head. "We don't use our strength to hurt others." Though that wasn't entirely true. SOLDIERs had been ordered to more than one war, the worst of them all being the Wutai war. She'd hurt people and for what? To give a corrupt company that was making secret monsters more power? Wasn't a SOLDIER inhuman, a borderline monster too? When she blinked and looked up, Cloud was standing in front of her instead of Zack, who seemed to have disappeared.

"You appear to have a lot on your mind," he said, voice and eyes calm.

"I was thinking that maybe… maybe it's time to leave ShinRa," Tifa said, staring down at her half empty glass of wine.

"What do you see yourself doing if you do decide to leave?" Cloud asked, wiping down the bar counter.

Tifa shrugged. "Maybe I'd hire myself out as a mercenary."

Cloud just grunted in amusement and nodded. "Well, whenever you decide to actually go through with it, let me know and I'll see about helping you find some jobs."

Tifa smiled and nodded, noticing the way he looked away from her as she did so. His own smile fell, and he looked uncomfortable. She had been trained to read people, much the same way the Turks did, to find out when they were lying or withholding important information, and Cloud looked like he was doing the latter. The scrape of a chair made Tifa blink out of her thoughts and she turned to see Zack putting up the chairs over the tables. When she looked back to Cloud, his back was to her, and his posture did not betray what she had thought she'd seen. He looked relaxed.

She downed the last of her drink and pulled out some gil from her pocket, setting it under the empty glass. "See you later, Cloud," she said quietly, waving at Zack before he disappeared into the kitchen. He waved back enthusiastically and called out that he expected to see her again soon, or he'd go and protest in front of the ShinRa building for overworking its SOLDIERs. Tifa just smiled to herself and left, not bothering to glance back at Cloud.

A quiet curse managed to reach Zack's ears as he stepped out from retrieving the broom in the kitchen. "What's going on?" he asked with a frown.

Cloud showed him the tip Tifa had left and looked a little insulted. "Why would she leave so much gil?"

"Because she liked the place and the service? What's the big deal?"

"Well, I don't know," Cloud started in a tone dripping with sarcasm. "Only the fact that her tip will pay for an entire month's worth of our drinking supplies?"

Zack still couldn't grasp why Cloud was acting the way he was. "…And?" he asked slowly.

"The place isn't _that_ nice. The atmosphere isn't the best either and the service was slow," Cloud said pointedly.

"Hey! Aerith was so coming onto _me_," Zack said in his defense. "This is an awesome place that deserves those kinds of tips. Just shut up and take it." He rolled his eyes.

Despite knowing that Zack was somewhat right, it didn't make Cloud feel any better. Why did it feel so wrong to have Tifa give him so much money? Sighing to himself, Cloud returned to cleaning up his bar and tried to shove thoughts of Tifa out of his mind for the time being. Too bad his brain was refusing to stop thinking about her smile, or the way her eyes seemed to glow that warm red-wine he remembered. There was also that one little fact that she was dangerous now. Trained to defend and destroy. There was nothing left in her of the Tifa he had known long ago, and maybe it was best if she didn't remember who he was. He could live with it.

……

The new recruits under her _care _were a rowdy bunch, but after a demonstration on how to respect their higher ranking teacher, they had finally started acting the way it was expected of them. As she sent them through another lap in the specially designated obstacle course, Tifa stood back and surveyed the stragglers.

"How many times have they gone through?" asked Aerith, coming to stand at her side.

"Three."

"_Three?!_ Are you purposely trying to discourage them?" asked her friend.

"No, but they do need to learn that I don't take kindly to comments being made about my ass. Besides, this will allow me to see the ones who will need some extra work. I won't work them this hard regularly, but they need to be prepared," Tifa said, finally taking pity on the newbies and telling them to hit the showers before getting to the rest of their duties. "We're in charge of these kids, Aer, and I don't know if I want to be," Tifa whispered.

"Why? Is teaching really so hard?" Aerith asked as she walked with Tifa towards locker room, where the few female recruits were going about their business.

Tifa made sure that there was no one nearby and that the water drowned out her voice a little. "I'm beginning to question what I'm doing here. The fight with the monster threw me off, and it makes me wonder what else ShinRa is doing in the basement."

Aerith's gentle green eyes—eyes that had seen death, war, and pain, just like Tifa's—watched her solemnly. "You know that I'll go with you right?"

Tifa smiled and nodded. "Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm not. All I know is that I don't see myself as a SOLDIER forever," Tifa said, serious.

"We can plan to fake our deaths," Aerith said with a giggle.

Tifa grinned, but then her smile dropped. "With those things crawling around loose, we may not have to fake it," she said, remembering the monster she had fought before meeting Cloud.

"Are you going to see him again?" asked Aerith knowingly, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"He's a distraction," Tifa murmured, shaking her head. "I can't afford a distraction at a moment when the company is mysteriously _losing_ monsters."

"But you like him," Aerith said as they walked out of the showers and towards the floor that held their mission computer.

"It doesn't matter," Tifa said, shaking her head to clear the half formed images in her head. There were times when it felt like her mind was trying to recall something, but it only gave her a headache and made her cranky after she failed to remember what she had forgotten.

"Lockhart."

Both women stopped and turned, coming face to face with their superior. "General Sephiroth, sir?" Tifa asked.

"Prepare for an emergency mission. Sector Seven, underneath the plate," Sephiroth said. "Take Gainsborough with you."

Tifa refrained from questioning the revered General and nodded, watching him turn away with a smooth swish of his long, silver hair. She turned to Aerith, whose shoulders had tensed. "Am I missing something?" she asked, motioning towards the direction Sephiroth had disappeared to.

Aerith shrugged. "He's just mad that I don't swoon like every other woman he looks at," she said, checking her bracer to make sure she had equipped the right materia. "Shall we?"

Tifa nodded and stopped to restock some potions before she and Aerith set off into the darkness of Midgar.

………

"If what my contact is saying is true, then ShinRa is purposely letting these things loose in random places."

Cloud just nodded. "How can we know if your source is reliable?"

"Well, he hasn't been wrong so far," Zack defended as he and Cloud moved silently through the alleyways a mile away from Seventh Heaven. As they were rounding the corner into one of the many junk piles located around the sector, they heard a roar loud enough to make the ear tremble. Both men looked at each other and then took off at quick runs, drawing their weapons in case they needed to defend.

They both came up short at the sight of the two SOLDIERs already handling the situation.

While Aerith was graceful like a dancer, casting magic attacks, Tifa was a destructive powerhouse and just as graceful in her own right, never mind if she had her sword in her hand or not. Her fists were just as effective on the monster as the dangerous blade.

"Am I sick for being a little turned on?" Zack muttered.

"You'd be sick if you said the monster is turning you on," Cloud said, a smirk in his voice.

Zack grinned and shook his head. "Not the monster, no."

Both women jumped to the side when a large claw fell over the space they had been standing in, but the monster turned and charged towards Aerith. The brunette merely bent her knees and surged into the air, landing deftly on the monster's back with a smile on her face. She cast a flare spell while she took to the air once more. Zack and Cloud jumped behind a pile of metal rubbish as the air around them seemed to ignite with the power of the spell. When they moved out to see what had happened, the monster had been defeated and Tifa was inspecting it to make sure that it wouldn't be getting up.

"Should we be worried about ShinRa throwing monsters into the slums?" Cloud asked dryly.

Tifa looked at him levelly, not surprised to see both men standing there. "Do you usually take midnight strolls with your partner?"

"Hey!" Zack exclaimed, moving over to stand next to Aerith. "I'm single and _straight_," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "Besides, I think Cloud is the one with the crush on me."

"These things put a lot of people in danger. Were you aware that all you're doing is cleaning up ShinRa's mess so that they can make all new ones?" Cloud asked Tifa, crossing his arms over his chest to look a little intimidating.

Tifa was not impressed. She'd seen and done far too many things to be afraid of one man—even Sephiroth didn't impress her much anymore. "It's work," she said after a long moment.

"How do you sleep at night?"

"Quite comfortably," Tifa said, snide.

"Hey, is something going on here?" Zack asked. "You two argue as if you've known each other for a while."

"I don't know him," Tifa said automatically, averting her gaze from everyone.

"You weren't friends before?" Aerith asked.

Cloud stared hard at Tifa and shook his head. "I wouldn't be friends with someone who showed such disregard for people and for the planet. You do know that ShinRa is killing the planet slowly, don't you?" he asked both Tifa and Aerith.

Tifa stepped away to pick up her sword and gave it an arrogant twirl with one hand before snapping it onto her back. "I do my job and I'm good at it. I make no apologies for that," she said, voice flat and calm. She turned to Aerith and motioned with her head. Then to Zack she winked. "See you some day, Zack."

He managed his usual, cheerful smile and nodded. "Take care of yourself, Tifa. Aerith, call me," he said.

Aerith giggled lightly and nodded, turning to follow Tifa as she began to walk away.

"Did you really have to chew her head off like that? What do you think she would say if she knew what we did as a side-job?" Zack asked.

Cloud shrugged, disinterested. "We're trying to save the planet, not helping to kill it."

"Did you really not know her before?" asked Zack in curiosity.

"She's a stranger to me now," he said quietly, turning to go. ShinRa had officially killed that sweet girl he had known once upon a time, and Cloud had a feeling that he would never see that Tifa again. Sighing morosely to himself, he made his way home, trying not to ponder why that little fact made him feel so miserable.

………


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **This second chapter is a little longer than the first. Also, I never played FFVII, but I tried to keep it as close to the game as I could(by reading about it, though it's not the same as actually _playing _the game), if anything is out of place, please let me know and I'll gladly change it. Again a warning for possible OOCness, so don't be surprised peeps! Also, thank you so much to those of you who reviewed, you all really made my day! And last, I want to apologize for any errors still present. In a few days I will return to correct them, so I'm sorry if they throw anyone off... enjoy...

…………

In the training room, Tifa picked off target after target from the sniper rifle she had been training with for the last fifteen minutes. Her knuckles had begun to ache after thoroughly pounding in her sparring targets, and she had moved onto the simulator to give her fists a rest. She didn't know why she was so angry with Cloud for what he had said.

There was a feeling of betrayal deep inside her, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. She didn't know him enough for his opinion to matter so much to her. They weren't friends. _He_ didn't even know _her! _He really didn't have the right to judge her. Hitting the showers to wash off the sweat and maybe relax her muscles a little, Tifa took her time.

Leaning into the spray of the shower, she felt the water wash over the many scars she wore. She had grown used to seeing them, but it was only a rare occasion when someone else was allowed to lay eyes on them. She wasn't self-conscious about her looks, and she was aware of the fact that she was an attractive woman, but her scars were private. They were something that she wasn't willing to just share with anyone.

Leaving the shower in a large, fluffy towel, she dressed in a clean uniform and took to drying and brushing her long silky hair so that it wouldn't tangle later on. She would take advantage of her free evening and visit the bar once more, just so that Cloud could see that he didn't intimidate her and had not run her off. She wondered what Aerith and Yuffie were up to, since the both of them had been busy the entire day, but she knew it was best to do this alone.

She took the train to Sector Seven under the plate and walked slowly the rest of the way. The slums were filled with people trying to make an honest living as well as with those who weren't. There were those who hated what she was and what she represented, and in those moments she wished for something more. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life following orders for a corporation who put the people of the city in danger just to see an experiment in action. SOLDIERs weren't soulless killing machines. Well, at least _she_ wasn't.

She hadn't gotten word on how the monster had gotten under the plate, and it irritated her to be left in the dark. Just that little fact alerted Tifa of how top secret it was all supposed to be.

Arriving at Seventh Heaven, Tifawalked in just in time to see Cloud getting crowded by a group of women, all vying for his attention. He really was an attractive man—Tifa had eyes, obviously—but his attitude left something to be desired. Various eyes settled on her as she entered in her full uniform and sword, only a jacket had been thrown on to hide away the new scars on her arms from her last battle with the monster. Not because she was ashamed of them, but because people tended to stare more than usual; and they asked unnecessary questions.

Tifa took a seat at the bar counter, and waited patiently to be acknowledged. She watched Cloud covertly, studying his mannerisms, the way he spoke to his patrons and how he seemed to turn into someone else when serving drinks. The muscles in his arms flexed with every movement he made, serving a shot of whisky, twisting the cork of a wine bottle, or just plain wiping a table. Turning away from the very appealing eye candy before her, Tifa let out a long sigh and shook her head once to clear the inappropriate thoughts away.

"What can I get you?" Cloud asked after making a last round on the tables.

Tifa gave him a level look. "A double of the hardest liquor you have," she said.

Blue eyes held hers for a moment before he nodded and quickly handed over the glass of clear liquid. He leaned against the bar with both hands and then sighed. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Would you have missed me?" Tifa asked after taking a measured drink.

Cloud couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but he shrugged one shoulder. "I wouldn't have gotten the chance to apologize."

"For what?" Tifa asked pointedly. She knew why he was apologizing, but she really wanted to hear him say it.

Cloud stared down at her hands and inspected her bruised knuckles as they cradled her drink. "I didn't mean to say the things I did. I just… get really worked up because there is no one out there trying to stop the damage being caused to the planet and the lifestream," he murmured. "I know you work for them and could have me killed, but the planet is suffering and if we don't stop it soon, it'll surely die."

Tifa watched him speak with such passion that it fueled that spark she'd never been quite able to extinguish, the spark that came to life whenever she thought of doing something other than destroying. Cloud was right. She had seen that the land all around them had been slowly dying. They were stealing away the planet's life-force and no one stood in the way. "I'm not completely heartless," Tifa said quietly, echoing her earlier thoughts.

Those cool blue eyes seemed to soften a little at her words. "I knew you couldn't have grown up to be heartless," he replied.

Her gaze became sharp and penetrating. "Cloud… do we know each other? From before I woke up here at your bar?" Tifa asked.

The blond frowned and started to shake his head but thought better of it. "Stay once the bar is closed. There are some things I think we need to talk about."

Tifa could only nod and watch him as he walked away to continue serving the customers. Sitting with her back against the wall, Tifa watched over the bar in silence, noting how Cloud took care of the trouble makers himself, and with little effort. By the time the bar closed, Cloud looked just about ready to crash, but he began to clean nevertheless.

Tifa stood to help gather the empty beer bottles, and she removed her sword and jacket to help clean the tables while Cloud set about washing the glasses and picking up the trash before sweeping. "Having a bar isn't all fun and games, is it?" Tifa asked once they were done.

"Thanks for helping," Cloud said, leading her towards the section of the bar that served as his home. He slept in what looked like a den that was half basement, but it was warm and cozy, and all male. There was a poster of a Daytona up against one wall, little trinkets that only men enjoyed sitting around, various magazines of cars and motorcycles, and a sofa bed that hadn't been set back in and had messy sheets over it.

Tifa smirked to herself when Cloud hastily folded the sheets and then converted his bed back into a couch. She knew he was tired, maybe it wasn't a wise plan to keep him awake. Her curiosity got the better of her when she realized that one of his walls was filled with old alcohol bottles.

"I collect vintage bottles of alcohol," Cloud unnecessarily stated, motioning at the wall. "I've reinforced the shelves and added things in case of an earthquake."

Tifa perused each bottle carefully and nodded whenever she recognized either the year or the brand. There was some liquor that had been discontinued from ten to twenty years before. "I must say I'm impressed," she said with a smile. "You've got a pretty interesting hobby."

"I actually wanted to collect motorcycles, but I don't think that'll happen anytime soon," he said with a snort.

Tifa let out a small laugh and nodded. She turned to look at him when he leaned back against the arm of his couch and they had a tense moment of staring at each other. His face seemed so familiar, but she couldn't even force herself to remember. "Cloud…" she started, interrupting when something in their staring began to shift.

"We grew up in Nibelheim," Cloud cut in before he lost his nerve. "We were neighbors."

She looked at him in surprise because most of her memories of Nibelheim were intact, but strangely enough, he was missing. "I—don't remember," she said faintly.

"Home or… me?" Cloud asked quietly.

Tifa felt something ache in her chest. "You," she whispered. "There are a lot of things past a certain point that I don't remember. It's not personal," she assured him, forcing a smile.

"How did it happen?" Cloud asked, walking over to his desk and fishing in the bottom drawer as she kept inspecting the bottles.

Tifa shook her head and shrugged. "After a mission in Nibelheim. I was sent there on a routine mission, but when my partner and I went up the mountain, everything becomes a blur. I don't know what happened to us, and I don't know where those weeks of my life went. I woke up from some sort of coma nearly three months later."

Cloud's eyebrows forked in a stormy frown. "What did ShinRa have to say about this?" he asked, walking over with a black box in his hands.

"They promised to investigate what it was that had happened to me," Tifa said, sounding unsure of her own words, eyeing the object in his hands.

"Do you honestly think that ShinRa would bother? I'm surprised they didn't decide to dispose of you while you were out," Cloud said, noticing her flinch. He realized how callous his words had been and began to apologize, but she shook her head.

"I guess you're right about that. Cloud, I didn't join SOLDIER just to kill people," Tifa started, wanting to get that fact out in the open.

"I know, and I'm sorry if I implied that, but you have to know the kind of company you're working for. They don't care for the people or the planet. All they care about is their personal gain, and it doesn't matter who they tear down to get it. I know that you don't have the heart to help this process," Cloud said seriously.

Tifa nodded. He was right in more ways than he thought. "People just don't walk away from ShinRa," she said.

Cloud hesitated before handing the box over to Tifa. She took it slowly and looked at him for a moment before opening the lid and looking inside. "How much do you remember?" he asked.

Tifa shook her head. "Just the town and my parents. I can't recall the other people I knew there, some faces I can see but I can't match up names with them. When I woke up from the coma, I had all these scars. I don't know how I got them…" She trailed off when she picked out a picture from inside the box. It was old and worn, but the two children standing by the well were familiar. It was her, standing in a blue dress, and Cloud, his hair slightly longer. She was smiling; he looked shy. Sitting right under the picture, in the box, was a blue ribbon, which she realized a few seconds later that she was wearing in the picture.

Under the ribbon was a letter, with a ShinRa stamp on the envelope. "That's your letter of acceptance into the SOLDIER cadet program. I didn't believe you when you told me you were joining," Cloud said quietly.

Tifaread the letter and felt a small smile curl at her lips. Getting accepted to SOLDIER right after the program had begun to accept females had been a big deal, she knew that much, even if she couldn't remember her own reaction. "I gave it to you?" she asked him quietly.

"Yeah. You found it funny that I was going to stay home while you went and joined an army of sorts," Cloud said, a faint smile on his face.

Tifa's amusement slowly wilted away, and she placed the things of such emotional value to Cloud back into the box. "I'm sorry."

He gave her a bewildered look. "Why?"

"For not remembering you."

"It's not something you can control," Cloud said, serious. "I just regret the fact that I gave you new memories of me that aren't the best."

Tifa smiled and fingered the ribbon one last time before shutting the box and placing it onto Cloud's desk. "If I was given the opportunity, I would leave SOLDIER."

"You always enjoyed taking care of others," he said with a half-smile. "It's easily your best and worst trait."

She did laugh then, and for the first time in a long time felt her cheeks color in a blush. How dignified was it for a warrior of her caliber to act like a school girl? Not very, her brain piped in. "Cloud?"

"Yes?"

"Where we ever…?" she trailed off awkwardly.

Cloud moved closer to her and turned her chin so that her glowing eyes could meet his blue ones. She'd always had pretty eyes, but the glow in them brought out the crimson more, and he found that he couldn't look away.

Tifa's lips parted in anticipation, though she knew that she and Cloud were still very much complete strangers, was he implying with his actions that they had once been more than friends? He knew her better than she knew him, and even when she didn't remember him, there was something about Cloud that just called to Tifa. She watched as his own lips began to inch towards her, and just as they were about to touch…

"Cloud!"

Both Tifa and Cloud nearly jumped away from each other at the sound of a little girl's voice. "Your kid?" Tifa asked him uneasily.

Cloud shook his head. "I just watch her for a friend. She must've had a bad dream or something."

"Well, go to her," Tifa said. "I have to get going anyway."

"Thanks for helping with the bar," Cloud said, walking her towards the door.

"No problem," said Tifa with a shrug. "I think we still have a lot to talk to, but it would be best for us to see each other during daylight hours."

"Fine. Just come by whenever you can. I'm usually here, getting the bar ready to open at night," Cloud said.

Tifa just nodded and stepped out the door after gathering her jacket and sword. Their eyes met for a few seconds and Tifa bit back a shy smile, attempting to keep the dreaded blush from her cheeks once more. She waited to hear the clicks of the locks on the door before she made her way back to HQ. The more time she spent in Cloud's company, the more Tifa was convinced that he would be the key to unlocking her memories. Already she could remember the little blond boy that had always trailed behind her in their hometown; the boy in the picture.

She wanted a better life for herself, but she didn't know how to go about changing something that she had gotten used to. SOLDIERs were the elite in ShinRa, and she doubted that the company would allow her to go, especially after all time and gil that had gone into her training and the enhancing mako treatments. As much as she wanted to leave, fighting and wielding a sword was all she had known for years. It would probably take another war for her to have the opportunity to have enough leverage to leave SOLDIER. That thought, more than anything, made Tifa's hope sink.

………

"Lockhart."

"Sir?" Tifa asked, attempting to hide the fact that General Sephiroth had caught her off guard and had made her jump like a startled chocobo.

Sephiroth merely raised one eyebrow, but ignored what he had seen. A distracted SOLDIER was a dead SOLDIER. It took a lot to kill someone as enhanced as they were, but it had been known to happen. Maybe Lockhart wasn't the best choice at the moment for the mission he had in mind. "You're distracted," he commented.

Tifa straightened her shoulders and shook her head once. "It won't happen again, sir."

Green eyes gave her a sharp look. "Is SOLDIER taking its toll on you now, Commander Lockhart?"

"Of course not, sir," Tifa muttered.

Sephiroth smirked. "ShinRa tries a lot of people's patience and endurance. You're _not_ the only one," he said seriously.

Tifa managed a small smile and wondered if the General was talking about himself. He was the public image of the company and was being constantly surrounded by the media, fans, and overall just harassed. If someone should've been able to leave ShinRa if they wished, it would've been Sephiroth. "I understand, General," Tifa found herself saying

"That is why I recommend for my Firsts to have nights off. They need to… unwind," Sephiroth said.

"Do you follow your own advice, sir?" Tifa asked him carefully.

Sephiroth merely raised one eyebrow and ignored her question. "I want you to report to the Sector Five reactor."

"May I ask why, sir?" Tifa asked, gathering some materia from the slots provided for SOLDIERs. She fitted a cure, flare, and a barrier to her sword and gauntlet, and waited for Sephiroth to answer her question.

"We have gotten word of an imminent attack. I need you to be sharp and aware of your surroundings. I would really hate to lose a good SOLDIER," Sephiroth said.

Tifa nodded and bit back a grin at his words. It wasn't everyday that one heard a compliment come from the great Sephiroth. "Right away, sir."

"I will be heading out to Nibelheim on some business. You will remain in charge of the cadets while I am gone," he said.

She nodded in understanding. "Will you be returning soon?"

"It depends on what I find at the ShinRa mansion, and after we inspect the reactor there. Your home town, is it not?"

"Yes, sir. I haven't been back there in years. I hope you find what you're looking for," said Tifa.

Sephiroth nodded in satisfaction and turned to go on his way. Tifawatched him go for a few seconds and then made sure she had anything she would need in case the rumors the General was talking about were true. She took the train once more to Sector Five and vaguely nodded towards the lower ranking soldiers she encountered along the way, who stopped to salute. Everything looked normal and calm, though her instincts were telling her that something was out of place.

For the next hour, she took her time inspecting the reactor's weak points, making sure that there was no one unauthorized inside of the structure, and that everything was working in order. It was when she had begun to relax that some alarms went off and a mechanical voice began to tell everyone to evacuate because there was danger to the reactor. Tifa felt her breath leave her in a rush when she saw scientists racing past her, and she realized that if the reactor blew, it would kill hundreds of people that lived close by. Hearing the distant sounds of fighting, she took off at a quick run towards the stairs that led downwards, to where there appeared to be more labs present.

Just as she hit the bottom of the stairs after taking two at a time, she rolled right under a massive sword that had been sailing towards her neck. Within seconds her own sword was out and she was on her feet and swinging without looking at her attacker. The blade that sparked against hers was easily twice as big, and the hand holding it was covered in a black leather glove, connected to a familiar arm, shoulder, eyes, and hair of none other than Cloud.

"What are you doing here?" Tifa yelled.

Cloud shoved her out of the way just as a roar sounded around the corner and a monster that looked like an eerie dog came racing towards them. He raised his sword to attack, but Tifa was already there, slicing the thing's head right off with one swipe. She turned the brunt of her anger to him and asked her question again.

"We need to go. The reactor is going to blow," he said, grabbing at her hand and pulling.

Tifawouldn't budge, and even with Cloud's impressive strength, he couldn't move her. "Did you have something to do with this? Cloud, do you have any idea how many people are going to die if this thing explodes?"

"_We're_ going to die if we don't get going," Cloud argued. When she still didn't move, he let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll tell you what's going on once we're safely away from here."

"How long do we have?" Tifa asked.

He looked at his watch. "About two minutes."

Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she motioned for Cloud to follow her as she took the stairs two at a time. There was no stopping what was coming, but Tifa knew that if they weren't safely out of the way, they would more than likely get swallowed up by the mako that the reactor was pumping.

Cloud grit his teeth as he tried to keep up with Tifa's speed. She had slowed down because of him, and at the pace they were going, they weren't going to make it. Fighting the monsters that had been in the reactor hadn't figured into their escape plans, and it had caused him to get out behind the schedule. "Go ahead, I'll catch up," he called to Tifa.

She turned to look at him with a frown and shook her head. "We're dead in a few seconds anyway. Don't worry," Tifa said, suddenly grinning. "I'll protect you."

Just as she said the words, a loud rumble went off and the reactor exploded. Tifa used the momentum of their run and wrapped her arms around Cloud, turning her back to the explosion and activating the barrier materia she carried with her. There was no guarantee that it would protect from the fire or the mako, but it was worth a shot. Tifa felt the lick of flames on her back and arms and took Cloud with her when she fell.

They rolled down a slope towards a waterway, and they both hit with a rough splash into shallow water. Tifa sputtered for a moment and quickly realized that she had landed on Cloud in a very compromising position. Had this been any other situation, she would've found it in her to blush. She sat up slowly and bit back a groan when her arms seared with the minor burns.

"You saved my life," Cloud said wryly. He sat up from where he had been laying in the water, trying to ignore the small fact that Tifa had landed _on _him, and shook the excess moisture from his spikes. He noticed her arms then and winced inwardly. "We should get going so that we can heal your wounds and before they send other someone to inspect what caused the explosion."

Tifa shook her head and stood. "I need to stay. I have to make a report of what I saw and what happened before the reactor exploded."

"Tifa, this is your chance to leave ShinRa!" Cloud said in exasperation.

"I'll go to the bar tonight, but I have to stay. Besides, they have better equipment to heal me. But _you_have to go before they find you with me. Cloud," Tifa started seriously. "You have to be completely honest with me."

He watched her carefully and then nodded. "Just get yourself fixed up and come tonight."

Tifa watched him take off down the waterway until she could no longer see him in the dark. Then she began to walk up the slope and inspected her injuries silently, trying not to wince or curse loudly. They would heal far faster than a normal person getting burned, but she didn't know if they would truly scar. The fire department was already attempting to put off the fire while they steered clear of the runaway mako that had leaked from the half burned and damaged sides of what was left of the reactor. The explosion had spread a great distance and it made Tifa sick to see houses and businesses burned to nothing but rubble. The innocent people that had been inside their homes…

"Lockhart!"

She stood immediately at attention and turned to look at General Sephiroth's second in command. "Captain Hewley!" she said immediately.

"You were inside of the reactor?" asked the dark haired man, sharp eyes surveying the damage.

"Yes sir. I arrived to patrol and about an hour in, the alarms went off, telling everyone to evacuate," said Tifa.

"Do you know what caused it?" Angeal asked, finally taking note of the injuries the female SOLDIER had suffered.

Tifa shook her head. "No, sir. But what I did see was a series of monsters that looked like they had been experimented on. They were running loose," she said, voice dark.

Angeal merely nodded and motioned towards the medical vehicles arriving. "Get your injuries taken care of, and then report to headquarters. I want you to write a report on what happened tonight."

"Yes, sir," Tifa said, wondering if she and Cloud had been caught in the security system of the reactor and the surrounding areas. She would have to sneak away tonight, because she doubted that ShinRa would be letting its army out with the explosion of the reactor. Sighing to herself, Tifa prepared for what was to come.

………

Cloud silently paced the length of the bar that cleared from the door to the bar counter. It was almost midnight and Tifa had yet to show up. He was honestly starting to worry about what she would do. She had seen him inside of the reactor, and though she knew nothing of his friends—who had been there with him—his known associates would be investigated and would go down with him if Tifa turned him over. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't, but the Tifa from Nibelheim that he had known was gone. The Tifa she was now was an army trained fighter, a tactician, and a person who would only protect those close to her. Even though it pained a part of him to realize it, Cloud was not close to her anymore; he didn't even think she considered them friends.

"I'm takin' Marlene outta here," rumbled Barret, one of his friends who had been at the reactor with him.

Cloud grunted. "Just wait a bit more. I know she'll come."

"If ya can swear to me that your girlfriend won't turn us over, I'll wait!" Barret snapped.

"I can't swear," Cloud said impatiently. "But she'll want to know what's going on first. We have to tell her why we did it."

"That's crazy talk," Zack said, taking the steps up from the basement quickly. "We can't tell her we're AVALANCHE. She's really easy on the eyes, but that doesn't mean that she isn't loyal to ShinRa. You're asking for trouble."

"Look, I know what I'm doing, okay?" Cloud asked, anger finally getting to him. He hated it when his reasoning was questioned. He nearly let out a sigh of relief when there was a knock at the door, and he checked to see that it wasn't the Midgar PD or SOLDIERs coming to get them. He spotted Tifa through the blinds of a window and quickly walked over to open the door and let her in.

Tifa stepped in slowly and immediately took notice of Zack and the other man sitting in the bar. Had they been in on what Cloud had done? The healed skin of her burns was itching, and Tifa just rubbed her arms lightly over the sleeves of her jacket to ease the discomfort.

"This is Barret, Marlene's dad," Cloud started, trying to break the tension and the staring. Maybe if he showed her that they weren't bad people, Tifa would understand.

"They were with you tonight," Tifa said, calm.

"Just cut to the chase," Barret interrupted. "You turnin' us in, girl?"

Tifa crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her stance to something less feminine and more threatening. She knew that her uniform, despite being standard issue for both men and women, molded perfectly to her curves. It allowed for a certain type of cover; one where her opponent didn't realize just what she was capable of just by her looks alone. "I should," she started.

"This is bullshit, spike. I'm not in the mood for mind games!" Barret exploded.

"Wow. You kiss your daughter with that mouth?" Tifa asked coolly.

"Tifa, please," Cloud started. "I've been trying to convince the both of them that you're a good person because they don't know you. You're making it hard for me to be right."

Tifa relented and her intimidating look slowly melted away. "I need to know what you were doing in the reactor. In HQ they're calling you AVALANCHE. Care to tell me that I'm wrong in assuming that you're all part of some ecoterrorist group?"

Cloud looked towards Zack and Barret, but Barret was scowling and Zack had averted his gaze. "It's time someone did something," he said lightly, turning back to Tifa.

She stared at him incredulously and shook her head. "Have you any idea how many people were killed in that explosion?" her glowing gaze was accusatory as it looked at each man. "You all judge me for what I've done. Won't you look at what you are doing _now_?"

"This is different," Cloud said, motioning towards the door and towards the city around them. "We were aware of the casualties that would result from blowing up the reactor, and we regret it. I think a part of me will never forgive myself for doing it. But the planet is deteriorating Tifa. Look at the barren wastelands. Midgar has no trees, or flowers, with the exception of Zack's garden."

Zack puffed up a little at the mention of his wards, but otherwise remained silent. Barret decided to speak instead. "I want a future for my baby girl," he stated, curt.

"And if ShinRa keeps sucking the life from the planet and the lifestream, there won't be a future for anyone," said Cloud.

Tifa found their argument convincing, and as she contemplated what they had said, Cloud brought out a file from his living area and placed it on the table closest to her, possibly to plead his case further. "What's this?" she asked.

"We have other friends who helped with what happened tonight. She hacked into the highest level of confidential files and found this. It was encrypted and hidden as if someone wanted to keep it secret," Cloud said evenly. His eyes were sad, Tifa realized.

She opened the top of the file and found printouts of what had been found. She felt the blood drain from her face when her brain finally caught on to what she was looking at. They were all in great detail, reports to the main head of ShinRa… all experiments done to her and her partner. The missing weeks of her life had been spent being subjected to elevated levels of mako, body enhancers, and anything that could boost her body to something above normal or average for a SOLDIER. Not everything had gone as planned. She had suffered of mako poisoning and as a result… she had lost countless of memories and any recollections of the experiments done on her.

Cloud lifted a hand to touch her shoulder and Tifa flinched back, giving him a blank look. "Tifa…"

"What did you think showing me this would accomplish, Cloud?" she asked him, voice neutral.

"You wanted answers for those missing months of your life, didn't you? I thought you'd want to know what ShinRa is really capable of," Cloud murmured, finally realizing that maybe he had done the wrong thing by showing her their findings.

Tifa just shook her head and edged towards the door. "You can rest assured that I won't turn you in," she said to Barret. "I have to go."

Cloud watched her nearly unhinge the door before she walked out. He looked at Zack and his friend motioned for Cloud to follow her. The blond did so quickly and caught Tifa nearly at the corner of the street. "Tifa, wait!"

"I have to get back," Tifa said, snatching her arm from his grip. "I already told you that I won't say a thing, but I have to stay in ShinRa to find out as much as I can on what information they have of you."

"I'm sorry about what happened to you," said Cloud, tentative.

"Right," Tifa said, turning to go. "If I get wind of any danger to you or your friends, I'll call you."

Cloud didn't stop her this time and watched Tifa go in regret. He had never been the most tactful of people, but he truly hadn't meant to be so callous about the information they had uncovered. He hadn't even read through more than the first page of the file in order to show some respect for Tifa. The details had just been… too much. Sighing to himself, Cloud turned back towards the bar and hoped that he got to see Tifa again soon and that she hadn't decided to walk out of his life for the second time.

………

The next few weeks passed by in a blur. Another reactor had been taken out just a few days before, but Tifa had steered clear of anything involving the reactors or AVALANCHE. She trained with Aerith, and kept the cadets in line. They were getting antsy because of the attacks, but she was good at reassuring them that everything would be figured out soon.

She had tried to keep the documents of the experiments out of her mind, but at night, when she was at her most vulnerable, she thought she could hear her own screams and the feel of the needles and scalpels penetrating her skin. She'd spent too many sleepless nights to count, and it felt as if they would keep coming. Sometimes it felt like the scars on her back were burning, but when she looked at them in the mirror, they were old and healed. She was driving herself crazy and she had lost her purpose. She didn't want to work for a company that would subject its employees to experimentations without their consent.

As she rounded the corner leading to the corridor where her room was, she was forcefully pulled into a closet. Her eyes quickly focused in the dark and she glared at Yuffie… and Vincent. "What the hell are you two doing?" she hissed.

Yuffie looked a little frantic, while Vincent looked like he didn't want to be there. "We could get into ten thousand types of trouble for doing this, but I know you're friends with that guy at the bar," said Yuffie.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked, her patience wearing thin.

"The president just ordered us to drop the Sector Seven plate. They got word that AVALANCHE lives in that area, and they're going to do it," Yuffie said.

"What?!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Reno and Rude are in charge of that, but if you want to get your friend out, you have to do it now," Yuffie said quickly.

"How long do I have?" Tifa asked, checking the time.

"Twenty minutes," Vincent said.

Tifa's eyes widened. "Twenty… that's not enough time!"

"Do what you can Tifa, but don't go under the plate. Call him, or send him any sort of message to get him out. Just don't go personally," Yuffie said quickly.

"Go after him!" Tifa said suddenly. "I'm going to try to stop Reno from doing this. The company can't allow so many people to die on a rumor."

"Tifa, you know we can't," said Vincent, always so calm voiced.

"You would rather sit around and live with so many deaths on your head?" Tifa snapped.

"We're Turks, Tifa," Vincent replied.

Tifa started to shake her head and turned to look at Yuffie. "You told me that your father disowned you for choosing to work for a corporation that forcefully stole away your country. Don't you wish you'd done something else with your life?"

"You know that it isn't that easy to leave ShinRa," Yuffie said with a forlorn sigh.

"We're wasting time. I'm asking you to help me," Tifa said gravely. "This no longer a company that I trust or would want to give up everything for. I'velearned a lot of terrible things." She swallowed hard. "Things that involve me and those months I lost."

Yuffie looked torn, but Vincent was the one who stepped up. "I've wanted to leave this life for years."

Yuffie suddenly grinned and nodded. "We'll all go down together!"

Tifa glared at her in the darkness. "We'll succeed together," she corrected.

"You know, Vince and I can fake our deaths so that they don't come looking for us," Yuffiestarted. Tifa smirked; this was the second time someone said that to her and she was seriously starting to consider it.

Vincent sighed and motioned towards the door. "Time is escaping us. If we don't get going, your friend will be dead."

Tifa hugged Yuffie, all semblance of the lost SOLDIER she had been feeling like the past few weeks gone. She was not going to allow ShinRa to take something more from her. She still felt like something abnormal because of the experiments, but her personal feelings didn't matter when more innocent lives were at stake. She opened the door and rushed out, leaving both Yuffie and Vincent alone.

"Zip up your pants, Vince, we've got people to save," Yuffie said with a mischievous wink.

The only reply she received was a disgusted grunt from her partner. "Are you ready to _die_?"

The shorter woman straightened her tie and nodded. "I'll be the most beautiful corpse walking around the planet. I'm ready to do something good with my life, Vince. We've been Turks for too long. I know we're both better than this."

Vincent would never admit that her words made something in him warm. They didn't even know if their plan would work. Still, he was willing to risk himself for a shot at a new life. And maybe… maybe he'd think about making Yuffie a part of it permanently.

…………


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I bring you all the last chapter of this little adventure. It's far shorter than the other two, but I seriously had to stop here or it would've turned into like a ten-chapter story, and the last thing I need right now is another multi-chapter fic. Hopefully the bit of romance in this chapter will make up for the open to interpretation ending. Special thanks to: Doctor It, mom calling, Seelenspiel, Aveira, serenbach, and ObsessiveCompulsiveValkyrie. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to reply to everyone.

………

Tifa raced towards the pillar holding up Sector Seven, glancing at her watch every few seconds. She couldn't allow this to happen. It was her duty to protect people, even if afterwards the company decided to _discharge _her afterwards. She had not been raised to purposely murder innocent people. The war had been something entirely different from this, and she would be damned if she just stood by and looked the other way.

She arrived just in time to see Reno setting up the charges. She slowly drew her sword as she approached him, and watched his shoulders tense when he realized that she was standing there.

"Company orders," said Reno, turning slowly to look at her.

"I'm not going to let you kill innocent people, Reno. It'll pain me, but I will hurt you if you don't disarm the bomb," Tifa said, serious.

"Sorry babe. We could've had something special. Don't take this personal. I'm just doing my job."

Tifa shifted her handle on her sword and pointed it straight at Reno, shaking her head. "I just decided to quit SOLDIER," she said. "And since I'm not employed by the same people as you anymore, I won't feel guilty about disobeying orders."

Reno just shook his head and drew out his EMR, switching it on until it hummed with energy. "I don't like fighting girls, even though I know you can kick my ass."

"Then turn off the bomb," Tifa said, eyeing the minutes that were running out.

Her distraction cost her—and besides, she hadn't anticipated that Reno _would_ attack her—when he charged at her and swung at her head. Tifa flipped back and away from Reno's weapon, sending one leg towards his in order to topple him to the floor. Reno jumped, avoiding her attack, and their weapons clashed with each other, setting off sparks.

"We need to get out of here, yo," Reno grunted, attempting to force her back and away.

"Disarm the bomb!" Tifa yelled, punching him in the jaw.

Reno fell back but immediately jumped to his feet, shaking his head. He pulled some grenades from inside his suit coat and threw them at her. Tifa rolled out of the way just in time, but lost her grip on her sword. The blade slid across the plate and towards the bomb, but before she could get to it, Reno was standing at her side, his EMR right under her chin.

The perpetual amused look on his face was gone, and he looked a little frantic. "Don't make me do this, L.T. The bomb is going to go off and you and I will go with it."

"Good," Tifa spat. "We deserve to be dead if we allow this to happen."

"I've had more years to get used to being a Turk than you do as a SOLDIER," said Reno. "I've learned to live with the guilt to a point where I don't think much about it anymore. Get over it, L.T. and go back to ShinRa. They'll kill you if you try to desert. I'll probably be the one to pull the trigger."

Tifa reared to her feet and tackled Reno to the ground, sending her fists into his face and any soft body part she could get. Reno rolled her and rammed his own fist into her stomach, effectively pushing the air out of her body. He went for her face next, but Tifa twisted and sent her booted foot into the side of his head, dropping him off of her and to the side. She got to her feet, wiping the blood from minor bruises away and ran to the bomb. She cursed herself for never taking the offered curriculum for learning about bombs—how to make and diffuse them—when she couldn't figure out how to stop it.

It was too late and all she could hope for was that Yuffie and Vincent had managed to find a way to get Cloud and his friends out from Sector Seven. Then the bomb went off, and Tifa jumped back and rolled away. The plate was falling from underneath her, and she didn't have time to wonder if Reno would make it out alive; she didn't even know if _she_ would make it out alive. Fire, dust, and debris were falling around her, nearly suffocating. Something inside her broke at the sound of twisting metal and death that reached her ears. Her hand caught one of the suspension wires that had been inside of the plate that was still falling, and she caught it and held on for dear life.

She slid for a few feet, her hand burning, and stared down at the destruction before her. There was nothing but rubble and flames left where Sector Seven had once been. Something warm and wet trickled down her arm and Tifa looked up and realized that her hand was bleeding through the blood. Changing her grip to her other hand, she began her slow descent, hoping that the glove held up for a little longer and didn't result in both her hands being badly injured before she reached the ground.

There was nothing inside of her but a cold feeling of disappointment and incredulity. To kill so many people for just a few… she couldn't fathom it. Cloud had been right. ShinRa needed to be stopped, but she wasn't entirely convinced that a group of ragtag "ecoterrorists" would be able to make a difference. All they had caused was an attack on innocent people. Tifa knew now how ShinRa truly operated, and they would more than likely blame this on AVALANCHE.

Bracing herself for more pain, Tifa took out her phone and dialed Yuffie's number. After five rings, the voicemail picked up and she shook her head, sending her long hair against her face. Next she dialed Vincent. Nothing. Finally, she dialed Cloud and hoped—almost prayed—that he would answer. Her knees gave out on her when there was no answer.

"_Promise me that you'll come back?"_

"_Hmm… okay, but only if you promise that you'll wait for me." A feminine giggle. "I'll come back and be your hero whenever you're in a bind."_

"_Girls aren't supposed to be the heroes. You're supposed to stay here while _I _go off to become the SOLDIER."_

She could remember his eyes now. So bright and blue in the moonlight, the stars making for a beautiful backdrop. The well—she remembered the well too—had been their own private little spot. _"You have to stay and take care of your mom. She needs you."_

"_I know. But that doesn't… that doesn't mean that I won't miss having you around."_

"_Well, I'll miss you too." She had blushed, thankful that it was dark._

"_Come back safe?"_

"_Only if you stay safe too."_

_Cloud nodded his blond head. "I promise."_

Her phone beeped and Tifa looked down at it, wondering where the anonymous number had found hers. She opened her phone to read the message and she frowned in thought at the cryptic message. There was only an address where she had to get to as fast as she could, without being seen. Standing up and squeezing her bloodied hand, Tifa took off at a quick run, staying to the shadows as the rest of the city went into a panic after bearing witness to the fall of the plate.

Before she could even realize it, Tifa found herself standing in front of a quaint house located in Sector Five. It was located a good distance away from where the destroyed reactor was, so the neighborhood was in good condition. Creeping through the shadows once more, Tifa sidled up next to a window to look inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person who had asked her to come. The door to the basement—located next to the backdoor of the house—banged open and Tifa caught a glimpse of green eyes, motioning for her to follow quickly.

Tifa ran after her and nearly tackled Aerith in a hug as the other woman closed the door and locked it. "I didn't know this was your place!"

"My mother Elmyra lives here," Aerith explained, hugging Tifa right back. "I couldn't send you the message from my phone because I lost it. I had to borrow one," she said, motioning down the stairs, into the main section of the basement.

Tifa walked down slowly, feeling her heart pound in her chest. She nearly ran to him when she saw that Cloud was standing near the other set of stairs that led into the living portion of the house. He looked safe and unscathed, and she had to force her feet to remain flat on the ground. Cloud stared right back at her, and Tifa realized that he was inspecting every visible injury she had on her. She broke away from his gaze and finally took notice that he wasn't the only one there. Zack, Barret, and Marlene were also nearby. She hadn't met the little girl before, but knew that she was the child that big Barret so protected. The child was staring at both her and Aerith in near awe, but she broke into a smile when the door nearest Cloud opened and Yuffie dragged Vincent down the stairs.

The basement seemed crowded now, but Tifa couldn't contain the sigh of relief that came with seeing everyone that was dear to her alive and without a scratch.

"Seriously, Vince. Leather?" Yuffie was saying, and Tifa noticed that they were out of their suits.

"It's easier to move around in," Vincent said, calm.

"Teef!" Yuffie yelled, nearly taking both her and Aerith to the ground with her in her happiness. "We got _the package_ out, and we pulled as many people as we could. Couldn't save everyone though."

"I know," Tifa said, feeling a lump form in her throat. "Thank you for helping and risking your lives to help me."

"You gotta do something about it though, or I will," Yuffie said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and gazing at Cloud out of the corner of her eyes.

Tifa merely smirked and thanked Vincent, who just nodded in acknowledgement. She turned to Aerith. "You think I can use your shower?"

"Of course. I'll get everyone settled in upstairs, but you, Vincent, Yuffie, and I need to stay out of sight. We're supposed to be flat under the plate too," Aerith said, a hint of anger in her voice. "We'll make them pay, Tifa. I've never been one for revenge, but ShinRa is asking for it."

Tifa nodded and turned to follow the other woman towards the other stairs.

Barret cleared his throat and stopped them. "Thank you for sending someone for us, girl."

"I do have a name, you know," Tifa said, sounding tired.

"Tifa…"

She forced a smile onto her face and nodded. "You're welcome. Just promise you'll always take care of that treasure you have with you."

Barret's eyes softened as he looked at Marlene. "Yeah. Go and take care of yourself, Tifa. You're bleeding all over the floor."

Cloud took a step forward, but Tifa was already moving away, up the stairs. Aerith led her to a guest room, where the drapes had been shut, and helped heal Tifa's hands before she left her friend to her shower. The water was turned up to scalding as Tifa washed away the blood, dust, and soot that had settled on her from her fight with Reno and the fall of the plate. After realizing that she could possibly be using up all the hot water, Tifa shut off the shower and stepped out, drying herself off before pulling on the clothing that Aerith had left for her to wear.

Slowly pulling on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt one size too small, Tifa dried the ends of her long hair slowly, staring at her pale, hollow eyed reflection in the mirror. She still didn't recognize the woman she had become, and it made her heart ache. This was not the life that her parents would've wanted for her. A person who had worked for so long with people who didn't think twice about bringing down plates over innocent civilians.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts and Tifa made her way over to answer it. She was surprised to see Cloud standing there, a calm look on his face. "Sorry. I lost track of time and just forgot that others would need the shower," she said, starting to move around him to leave the bathroom.

"You took a while, so I wanted to come and check on you," Cloud said, stopping her with a hand on her elbow. "Aerith's mother made some soup for us, and I brought some up for you."

Tifa nodded and pushed on another forced smile. She felt so emotionally exhausted that even smiling seemed like a chore now. "You didn't have to go through the trouble, but thank you," she said, slipping away from his touch and moving towards the small table near the door, where the food was.

Cloud frowned at her and wondered about her strange behavior. He knew it had to do with the fall of the plate; he felt it in his chest too. He had lost his home, his business, everything that he had made for himself after leaving home. Not to mention that the biggest losses had been his other friends and some neighbors that they hadn't been able to get to in time. He hated feeling so helpless and unable to help anyone. He silently watched Tifa as she picked at the chicken and noodle soup and slowly walked over to kneel in front of her, his hand cupping her cheek.

Her eyes darted up to his face and he held fast when she began to move away. "I want to help, but you have to tell me what's wrong first. You can't feel guilty about the plate. You had nothing to do with it, while _we_ do. It's not your burden, Tifa."

"I know that, Cloud, but it still makes me angry to know that I couldn't do anything about it," Tifa said, voice low. "I was supposed to become a hero. Not a person who sits by and watches plates fall, or monsters get set on the loose to kill innocent people."

"You fought so that the plate wouldn't fall, didn't you? You fought that monster so that it wouldn't attack anyone, right?" Tifa nodded and Cloud rubbed his thumb over her cheek. "Then that makes you a hero."

Tifa stood from the chair she had been sitting in and walked a distance away. "Don't try to turn me into someone better than what I am," she said, annoyed.

Cloud straightened and forced back the scowl that threatened. "Why do you shy away from my touch?" he asked before he could stop himself.

The brunette stiffened at his question and shook her head. "I don't."

"Yes. You do." His eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Tifa deflated and sunk onto the soft mattress of the bed. "Why would you want to touch someone like me? I'm a little less human because of those experiments."

Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing, but just to prove her wrong, he sat down next to her and grabbed her hand in his, bringing her bruised knuckles to his lips for a gentle kiss. "You're more human than many people running around the city. You _didn't_ stand by and just watch the plate fall, did you?"

Tifa shook her head after a moment. "I fought Reno, but he didn't disarm the bomb," she said, turning her hands up when she remembered that only less than an hour before they had been bleeding. Her palms were pink and newly healed, but they wouldn't scar; Aerith was one hell of a healer. "I could've done more…"

"And what? Kill yourself while you tried? We're alive for a reason, Tifa," Cloud said, squeezing the hand he still held. "I don't care about your past, or the experiments. I care… about you."

Her glowing eyes turned to him in the dark of the room, and she couldn't stop her heart from beating a little faster. She remembered him, if only a little, now. Those eyes, the scarce smile, the way his mouth softened when he was happy, or when his lower lip pouted out a little when he was angry. "You're familiar to me now. Just a bit," Tifa said, brushing the tips of her fingers across the light freckles on his cheeks.

Letting out a small breath, Cloud leaned in towards her. He gently brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss and hoped that she wouldn't pull away from him again. When she didn't, he squeezed her hand in reassurance. She tasted of sadness and all the tears that the old Tifa would've surely shed on his shoulder, but she was a fighter, and he knew that all that sadness that she felt now would be put to a better use.

"Join us. Join AVALANCHE. I know we can stop all that's going on, but we'll need your help to do it," Cloud said.

Tifa wondered briefly how long he had been waiting to ask her to join, but she had been refusing to leave ShinRa no matter what she claimed. The experiments had been the last straw, but the plate had been what had finally made her take action and walk away. As of now, she was just a civilian. Just an enhanced fighter with exceptional skills and a wish for retribution for the harm caused to the people of Midgar and to the planet.

"You're in a bind, and you want me to be your hero, right?" Tifa asked, unable to hide her smile.

"Girls aren't supposed to be the hero," Cloud replied, a smirk sliding over his lips.

"You'll stay with me, even if things get hard and dangerous?" she asked, turning to look at him.

Cloud nodded, meeting her gaze head on. "I will. And we'll find the rest of your memories, too."

Tifa smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

A knock on the door was the only warning they received before it swung open, letting in Yuffie. "You guys should come and take a look at this," she said motioning downstairs.

Cloud and Tifa followed after her in silence down to the basement, where a small TV had been set up. The news channel was broadcasting the fall of the plate, and Tifa had been right, they were blaming it on AVALANCHE.

"They'll be huntin' us now," Barret grumbled. "ShinRa is offering a reward for any news on our whereabouts."

"Also, we're all successfully dead!" Yuffie said cheerfully. Tifa stared at her, and the young woman shrugged. "Apparently we were under the plate and we went with everyone else. We'll have a memorial next week."

"It's so easy for them to cover up anything," Tifa muttered, anger burning through her.

"If they could cover up Sephiroth going crazy in that small town, ShinRa is capable of doing anything," said Yuffie.

"What?" both Tifa and Aerith chorused.

Vincent took in their reactions and was more curious about Aerith's. He'd never been much for gossip—the way Yuffie was—but he'd heard stories about the General having a love interest inside SOLDIER, and maybe Aerith had been the one.

"Why is this a big deal?" asked Zack.

"He went homicidal and then killed himself. Or at least that's what was said in a briefing we had before we died," Yuffie said, motioning to Vincent and herself.

Tifa turned to look from him to Cloud, and her eyes held pain in them. "He was supposed to be in Nibelheim," she murmured.

The blond started at this. "He killed the townspeople?"

"And burned everything to the ground. His body hasn't been found, so there's a chance that he may still be out there," said Vincent.

Another thing to add to ShinRa's ever growing list of mistakes and failures, Tifa thought inwardly. Her father… "We have to do something," she said, startling everyone out of silence. "We have to bring the corporation down to its knees."

"How do you suggest we do that, girl?" asked Barret.

"The same way you were doing it first," Tifa replied. "We'll take out the reactors."

"Didn't you give us a whole guilt talk about killing innocent people?" Zack asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned back against a support column.

"We'll have to find a way to disable the reactors without causing so much collateral damage," Cloud interrupted.

"Our bomb… supplier was under the plate," Zack said after a moment. "She didn't answer when we called."

"I'm sorry about that," Tifa said, pacing a little. She turned to Vincent and Yuffie. "You two know how to make explosives, don't you?"

"It's standard Turk training," said Vincent.

Barret cleared his throat. "Normally I wouldn't trust a Turk, but ya got us out of Sector Seven when you didn't have to. Would ya be persuaded into joining AVALANCHE?"

"Depends on who does the persuading," said Yuffie, winking at Zack. The taller man just grinned and shook his head.

"As individuals, we wouldn't even scratch the surface of ShinRa, but together, I think that we stand a chance of really striking them where it hurts. What do you say?" Tifa asked.

Vincent looked at Yuffie, and the younger woman nodded. "We want to help."

"Good," said Tifa, turning to Barret. "Wherever you lead us, we'll go."

The big man shook his head. "I think you make a better leader than I do. _We'll _follow _you_."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, and Tifa felt her spirit lift a little. She had a group of people, not the mention the planet, counting on her to make things right. She'd chosen wrong by joining with ShinRa before, but the universe was giving her a chance to fix some of her wrongs, and she would try as hard as she could. The road ahead of them would he a rough, dangerous, and treacherous one, but she had her friends with her, and… she had Cloud there to be her support for what was to come.

Their eyes met from across the room, and he nodded, his lips softening into a smile.

"Hey! Stop staring at each other and lets have dinner!" Zack exclaimed.

Laughter took over the majority of their group as they trudged up the stairs to get their food in the kitchen. And as she followed after them, Tifa felt a warm, strong hand slip into hers and squeeze. "You'll always have me here, Tifa," he said, as if in answer to her previous thoughts.

"I know, Cloud. Thank you," Tifa replied.

**The End?**

…

…

…

_And here starts Tifa's FFVII… There won't be a sequel for this story at this moment, but I may change my mind later on. Thanks for reading and I hope you had as much fun with this fic as I did!_


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